“Last we met Howling Giant they were dueling with Somerset’s Sergeant Thunderhoof in groovy stoner split Turned to Stone Chapter 2: Masamune & Muramasa, which deserved a word, not a numerical score, to describe its quality. Howling Giant strung together a fun-loving single track with multiple movements, their meat-and-potatoes approach slightly outdueling da Hoof’s bombastic and flashy performance.” Howling at stones.
“My native stomping grounds of Long Island, New York birthed such notable metal acts as Twisted Sister, Suffocation, and Dream Theater over the years. Hell, the legendary Chuck Schuldiner was born here, so that means we basically invented death metal too. It’s been a while since the area had a major metal champion to rally behind and support. Based on 2021s highly impressive Blood of the Old Gods release, I was ready to bestow that mantle on Restless Spirit. The band exists at the crossroads of several genres including sludge, stoner doom, classic metal, and grunge and their proprietary blend is nigh irresistible,” Horror on Strong Island.
“The departed Huck N’ Roll, who has not been reduced to a nutritious paste designed to keeps n00bs clinging to life, loved up on Domkraft’s 2021 release Seeds. Huck considered the third album by these Swedes to be the best stoner/psych doom album of that year. The readership shared his enthusiasm to a point, while also noting that the effort felt like psychedelia as played by those who eschew psychedelics. I agreed with both camps; Seeds is a fun listen, but it does occasionally seem like the work of three talented members of the school orchestra who drank some punch spiked with liquid acid at the prom.” You put the seeds in the bongonut.
“The last record from the curiously-named Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, 2019’s Grandmother, did not grace these pages but for some reason, I was aware of it and it made enough of an impression on me that I was interested to review its successor, Aion. Buzzing around since 2014, Bees released their debut, Medicine, in 2017. A whimsy, faintly progressive doom record with a few hints of stoner around the fringes, it was solid. Grandmother was an altogether more interesting affair. A tightly-written slab of doom that upped the progressive quota by dialing in some psychedelia, as well as a rumbling darker edge, it showed a lot of promise.” Tapping out the vein.
“For someone who holds all forms of doom metal in high esteem, I must admit I’ve struggled to connect with anything of the stoner/psych variety ever since Italy’s Ufomammut put their amp fuzz out to pasture a few years back. As the oldest of all metal forms, predictability is baked into its very DNA. No matter how full of piss and vinegar a young band may be, if they play stoner doom, they fight the perceptions of a tired genre.” Tides aturning.
“These Beasts plays sludge of the stoner rock and noise rock-influenced variety—still nothing to do with dogs—right along the spectrum somewhere between the hypnotic pummel of early Melvins and the screeching chaos of The Jesus Lizard.” Bad dog!
“This album cover might be enough to scare away the more discerning fans, but we here aren’t paid to run away in fear or confusion. Nor are we paid enough to afford a pair of 3D glasses, which might be handy to see this artwork in its intended form. It is a messed-up, psychedelic trip of an image, to be sure, and in some ways it foreshadows what is to come on Seeds, the third album from Swedish doom/sludge/psych trio Domkraft.” Seedy fuzz.
“Being a metal reviewer is fun. I get to discover new gems I probably wouldn’t have otherwise heard, I get to think of creative ways to make fun of bad albums, and I get to work with an amazing and talented group of fellow writers whose reviews and recommendations provide an abundance of new, quality metal to check out. But like all jobs, this one has a dark side.” Here comes the bittersweets….
